


Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

by Dboy69420



Category: Spy School Series - Stuart Gibbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dboy69420/pseuds/Dboy69420
Summary: After an enemy organization kidnaps Zoe and Erica, Ben is forced to pay a ransom. Sadly, he only has enough money to spare one of them. Who will he choose? We'll find out...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

Prologue

"Your two friends have been kidnapped."

Ben stopped in his tracks, dropping the platter of baked beans he had been holding. It crashed to the floor, sending a wave of cascading goods splattering to the table to his right.

"What?" he said, looking at his phone once again. He tried to ignore the stain of beans on his pants.

The message was from an anonymous number, and it was eery in a way because he didn't know who it was from. 

What made it more creepy was the message. It said that apparently two of his beloved friends had been kidnapped, which was probably highly likely since he was a spy. 

He read it over and over again, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. He wasn't.

Suddenly, a little bubble appeared with flashing dots. This meant the person on the other end was once again typing up another message, probably something even worse. He didn't want to look at it when it was done, but he couldn't help himself but take a peek.

After a suspenseful 5 seconds, the message came through with a tiny ringtone. 

His eyes scanned it as the realization dawned on him.

"Erica and Zoe are under our hold. Pay our ransom, or they will die."

CHAPTER ONE:  
OBSTACLE COURSE

"Fifty seconds!" shouted Coach Macauley, watching us in satisfaction as we struggled to pass through the test of skill and ability.

Ahead of me was multiple swinging pendulums, with a moat full of lake water surrounding the thin bridge that we were supposed to run through. I watched as one by one student attempted to cross the bridge, but then fall into the dirty water and coming up with a mouthful of algae after taking in a blow.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the bridge was coated with a slick layer of soap and water? And also, we were not wearing any shoes. This made running through incredibly hard since the platform was basically a slip n' slide.

And to add up on that, this was our final grade. Each of us had five attempts. Succeed once, get an A+. Don't succeed, fail. There were only two options, and from the results of the current state, it looks that everybody was going to fail.

Erica was right in front of me, ready to take on the obstacle. I had a dollar bet that she would make it, against Mike.

"I'm telling you, this obstacle is impossible," Mike said, watching as yet another victim got knocked into the water. "Nobody can get through it. Nobody. Not even Ice Queen herself. I can't wait until you hand me over that crisp dollar."

Zoe, who was behind Mike, interceded our conversation. "I agree with Ben. I think that Ice Queen can get through this."

"Oh, so you side with me now. Couldn't of you have done that earlier today during the spaghetti incident?" I said.

"We don't talk about that," Mike quickly put in, giving me a warning glare. Zoe couldn't help but laugh.

Something happened at lunch today, but I'm not going to tell you. Secrets are secrets, (I am aware of the irony that I am a spy, and spies are supposed to know secrets, but whatever.), and secrets aren't supposed to be revealed.

Before I knew it, Erica was up to the line. All of my fellow spies squished to the front of the crowd to get a better view. Apparently, a lot of people wanted to see if the best spy in our league could manage this "impossible" obstacle.

Erica seemed not to be aware of all of this and started the course before I could even give her a few words of encouragement. 

Running past the first few pendulums without even a hesitation, she didn't manage to slip, slide, or make any mistakes and maintained her balance. This wasn't surprising, since her skill level was still bigger than all of ours combined.

As she went on, almost halfway through the obstacle now, (which was longer than anybody had ever gone), I realized something: if she kept going at this speed, she would eventually hit a swinging pendulum. And judging from the friction of the ground and the fact that she wasn't wearing shoes, the amount of brake energy wouldn't be enough to slow her down...

Unless she did something very unexpectedly.

And that's exactly what happened.

CHAPTER TWO:  
ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

With a defiant shout, Erica launched herself straight at the pummeling obstacle...

And grabbed onto it, managing a grip as if she had spider-man skills. She was hugging the pendulum and holding on for dear life.

Then, when the pendulum swung at a specific angle, Erica launched herself at the next pendulum and held on with American Ninja Warrior worthy grip. 

This continued for the next few pendulums, and she swung from one to another like Tarzan in the jungle. For each one, she managed to grab ahold of it at a nearly impossible angle and grip on, going from one to another with superhuman skills.

Mike sighed behind me then chucked a buck at my face, temporarily flashing George Washington's nostrils into my pupil. I flinched at snagged the bill in midair, shoving it into my pocket and grinning.

"She hasn't even completed the obstacle yet," I said, smiling. 

"At the looks of it, she managed to break the odds. I can bet you another dollar that she finishes. Heck, I could bet my life savings." Mike said, pointing at Erica, who was on the last pendulum. 

Swiftly, she swung her legs up from behind and flew towards the end platform. Doing a backflip in midair, she landed perfectly in a Spider-Man position with finesse, not even a drop of sweat on her face.

Coach looked at her and nodded as if this wasn't impressive at all. It made sense since he had been coaching Erica for a while now, and he was pretty used to these amazing feats of athleticism. Something like this wasn't unusual for her to coach.

Squinting at the coach, I could see him quickly scribble an A+ on Erica's box. I sighed. Everyone else would be failing, while Erica can easily outdo them. It seemed unfair, but that was the point of being a spy. A spy's life was brutally unfair, this being a clear example.

Erica strode back to the line, deftly avoiding any high-five attempts or fist bumps. She shoved her way up to me and slipped something in my pocket. 

"Good luck," she muttered, then disappeared in the crowd.

It suddenly occurred to me that it was my turn to face the obstacle. 

And without help, I would most likely fail. There goes my grade. Ppft. Like it was even good in the first place.

Slipping my hand in my pocket, I inspected the thing that Erica had given me. Curiosity took over me, and I pulled it out. 

From the looks of it, it was a small, white sphere. It could fit for a paintball, but it was a little too small for that. Maybe more like a BB.

It stuck to my hand, kind of like gum. It was clinging to my palm like holding on for dear life.

Coach, who was getting impatient at this point, shouted pointedly and waved his hand towards the obstacle. I slowly crept forward, almost muting the words of encouragement from Zoe and Mike.

Quickly, I ran towards the first pendulum. I almost slipped but managed to keep my balance from falling into the muddy water. Before I knew it, a second one came by. 

I managed to avoid the first three before slipping. My feet went out from under me whilst running from the third pendulum, and I landed flat on my stomach. Fortunately, I was still on the course and hadn't fallen off. After a brief mental calculation, I concluded the odds of this happening were thinner than a sheet of ice.

A thought suddenly struck me. Before I had mentioned this obstacle to be like a slip 'n slide. And here I was, flat on my belly, in the perfect position to slide.

I pushed myself forward and slid perfectly towards the end of the course. The pendulums were perfectly placed so that there was a small distance between the bottom of them and the floor, so I could slide through perfectly without being hit off.

Gleefully, I reached the end and belly-flopped into the platform. This didn't annoy me, because I had just aced my final grade and outsmarted the teacher.

Coach, on the other hand, was furious. 

"Contrabanded!" he was saying, face red. "Unorderly!"

"I did what you told me to do," I said smugly, striding past him. "Quote, 'Make it to the end while avoiding the obstacles.' You never specified that we had to do it on any specific way."

Walking over to the exit, I glanced back to see my grade. It was a shining A plus. 

I smiled. Ben Ripley has struck again.

CHAPTER THREE:  
UNKNOWN IDENTITY

Walking out of the gym, I took the pebble-sized marble out of my hand. Rolling it around, I walked over to the lunchroom, where dining was to be held at noon.

In the corner of my eye, I spotted Erica walking a few hundred feet away. Turning towards her, I walked forward to say hi, but suddenly realized that she had disappeared in thin air right before my eyes.

What? I thought. This was followed by a voice of "Hello," from behind me.

I shrieked, jerking backward and turning around at the same time. Behind me was Erica, with a tiny smile playing on her lips.

"Will you please stop sneaking up on me like that!?" I shouted. "I swear the only reason you do it is that you enjoy seeing us cry in surprise," I muttered.

Erica smirked, then motioned me to follow her. "I need to show you something," she said, turning around and whipping her raven black hair into my face, giving me a whiff of lilacs and gunpowder. I swear she did that on purpose.

Following her, I walked towards where she was heading. On the way there, I caught sight of a few people holding... were those white pebbles? Where are people getting these things and where are they coming from?!

Heading to the general direction of the Hale building, I saw a stream of girls walk out, giggling. I avoided them with Erica, who's expression was still unreadable. Not like that was unusual.

Another student walked out of the Hale Building, face completely red. Whatever was happening in there, I didn't want to know. But if Erica went, well... that meant that it had to be something of importance.

Walking in, I passed a student who was talking to himself. What exactly was happening in there?

Erica walked to the front desk, in which Alexander Hale was standing behind. He was taking white sticky pebbles from a line of students that were at his desk. Now I'm actually curious. 

Each of the students were handing them in, and then it looked as they would walk over to a printer and take a piece of paper out of it. Then they would look at the paper with mixed emotions.

Alexander, who was beaming, looked over to Erica. 

"Hi Dad," Erica mumbled, then motioned me to get into the line.

My curiosity won over me. "What's happening here?" I asked Erica.

She hesitated for a second, then said "Have you heard of the royal banquet?"

"Royal banquet? No." I said. 

"Well, MI6 is hosting a banquet for their academy and for our academy also. It's a cross-celebration for the eradication of SPYDER, at least for now," she said. "It's going to be located at the Royal Albert Hall in London in three days."

"What does that have to do with all of this?" I said.

"Well, they're assigning partners for the banquet," she said, stopping.

"...and?" I said.

"Well, you're supposed to spit on your white marble, and it will suck up the DNA. Then, after giving it to Alexander, he will print out a sheet of your best pairings based on the similarities and relations with the other student's DNA. Basically, he's finding your top list of soul mates for the banquet."

My stomach sunk. "So you're saying that people are basically getting a list of potential dates?" I said uneasily.

"Well, if you put it that way, then yes, but let's not go there. Just call it a temporary partner for now."

So now we were getting forced to go with someone to a dance that we possibly didn't even know. Why didn't the Academy just let us choose?

"Why don't we just choose our partners?" I said to Erica, relaying my thoughts.

"Well, they think that might go out of hand. As you know, relationships can mess up your skill, so they think that putting you with someone that you don't know but has similar DNA results to you will just play out perfectly. To be honest, I actually don't know. That's my guess."

"Did you get your list yet?" I asked. 

"No. And I don't plan on getting it either. I'm going to skip the banquet." she said quickly. "If I don't, then I'll probably end up with some guy drooling over me the whole dance." with this, she turned around and whipped her hair in my face again, then walked away.

I groaned. With my luck, I'll be paired with an annoying girl who doesn't even like me. And the odds of that were incredibly high.

As I watched people get their pairings, the realization that there was a possibility that Erica was on my list dawned on me. If she was on my list, that would mean that she was basically one of my potential soul mates, with DNA proof. The sad thing was that she wasn't going.

As the line shortened in front of me and elongated behind me, I spotted Mike walking in. He ran over to me, followed by Zoe, and they scooted in and cut half of the line, causing some nasty looks from the people behind us.

"Hey!" Mike said, showing us his white pebble. "Did you spit in yours yet?" he said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." I retracted a tiny glob of spit and inserted it into my pebble. As if it was a sponge, it quickly sucked it up and was dry again before I knew it.

"Ben," Zoe said. "How about we each read each other our lists today at 4? Me, Mike, Chip, Jawa, and a few others agreed to it already. How about you?"

"Um..." I wasn't really sure about my decision, because revealing the list wasn't exactly on my plans for the afternoon. But with the peer pressure of my fellow friends weighing down on me, I obliged.

"Sure," I shrugged. "Where?"

"Oh, somewhere private. I've managed to arrange the box as our meeting place."

I shuddered at the name of that place. It didn't exactly give me good memories.

The box was a holed-up, high security area that was incredibly dull. If you wanted to watch dust collect on the ground or metal pale, then you're welcome, but for me, it was complete torture to stay in that place. This feeling was probably the same for ninety-nine percent of the rest of the human population. Not to mention that the box also had the wi-fi connection of a rock.

As we reached the tip of the line, Alexander spotted us and gave us a good grin. After dealing with the last student before me, Alexander straightened his waist and gave me a jolly greeting.

"Hello, Ben!" he said.

"Why such a happy mood?" Mike said.

"It's fun to see you youngsters find the truths of unexpected love." he said, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "Also, the looks on the student's faces when they see the lists are priceless."

Snatching the bead from my hand, he inserted it into the back of a machine that was connected to the printer. After a few seconds, the printer whirred to life.

Zoe gave me a pat on the back as I headed to it, and Mike whispered a happy comment. 

Watching as the warm paper slowly jacked out of the printer, I quickly snatched it and folded it. Shoving it in my pocket under my phone, I walked over to Mike and Zoe, who were now also at the printer.

"You realize that the paper in your pocket is basically the list of girls that you're going to be spending a few hours within a Royal Banquet hall, right?" Mike said.

"Yes, but I'm not going to read it until I get to somewhere private," I said.

Fast-walking to my dormitory, I quickly jogged in and slammed the door. Even though I knew Erica had bugged my room, I still unfolded the still-warm paper and flattened it on my desk. 

Taking a deep breath, I slowly read the contents of the page from bottom to top.

On the bottom were some bold words.

Student Name: Ben Ripley Age: 13 

Please choose one of the following people listed as your partner when attending the Royal Banquet. Using a pen, draw a circle around the name of the person you are choosing. All submissions are due by tomorrow at 3 PM.

I read the instructions and took out a bright red pen, preparing to circle a name. Starting from the last choice, I made my way up the list.

7\. Christine Kohen

I had no idea who that was, so I just waved it off.

6\. Kylie Moranes

5\. Joy Frankson

4\. Mia Smith

Still people that I didn't know, which probably was usual. I mean, my DNA was probably Smart unathletic male, so I didn't expect anyone that I knew to be on the list.

3\. Zoe Zibbell 

After reading this name, I was truly surprised. I mean, I knew Zoe had the hots for me, but I didn't know we were connected through DNA. Just knowing that was kind of crazy. If nobody else on this list can beat Zoe, I'll probably go with her. I mean, I'm considering myself lucky here.

Number two was some girl named Hannah Rodgers, but I wasn't focused on that. I was focusing on number one.

I read the name over and over again, unable to process what I was reading. After rubbing my eyes and making sure I wasn't in a dream or hallucinating, I smiled.

Number one on my list was

CHAPTER THREE:  
THE LIST REVEAL

The number one on my list was the one and only Erica Hale.

I didn't know to either show her this or keep it a secret. Knowing that my room was bugged, she probably knew about it already, but I bet this was one of the only things that could affect her nonchanging emotion.

Still, it surprised me that this incredibly talented spy who was older than me got placed for number one on my list.

But something was nagging in the back of my mind... something that told me someone had set this up on purpose.

A small idea formed in my noggin. What if the CIA had done this pairing on purpose, knowing I would choose Erica (if somehow I actually managed to convince her to go) and since we would be together during the ball, then maybe this was actually a setup for a top-secret mission?

Maybe they would drag us together, wait for a moment of weakness, then pull us out of the ball unexpectedly and bring us to one of the MI6 headquarters in Britain. Maybe this was all just a setup planned by the CIA.

In my mind, I was secretly hoping that it wasn't, and Erica and I were meant to be, but the logical side of my mind knew that this was highly unlikely. 

But still, hey, why be the pessimist when you can go to a banquet with Erica? That's probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Now the only step I have left to do is to somehow convince her to go.

Suddenly, a knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. Quickly, I stuffed the list away into a secret compartment attached under my bed and flung the door open.

There stood Erica Hale, giving me a look that I knew too well.

"I'm well aware that I was the first person on your list," she said, closing the door behind her as she let herself in. "And yes, as you are probably thinking, this was set up by the CIA."

I sighed. Of course. With the confirmation that we weren't meant to be, I could finally assure that I was still far away from a relationship with Erica- and will probably never get closer to one.

"So... are you going to the ball or not, seeing that decision?" I said. If the CIA told her to do something, she usually would do it, because not following orders could result in a black mark on your report, in which is something you do not want.

"Unfortunately, yes." she sighed. "It's not like I wanted to go anyways. As I said, relationships mess up our spying ability. Having you dance with me will basically short-circuit all of your math skills."

"No!" I said, blushing, not ready to believe this.

"Then why," she said, pushing her face near mine so that I could feel her hot breath wafting onto my nose, "when I do this, you get incredibly flustered?"

"I- no!" I said, pulling away.

"What's forty-seven times nine-hundred eighty-two?" she asked immediately.

"I- um," I tried to focus on the numbers in my head, but they were too blocked up by the image of Erica being close to my face. "I-ahh! I can't do it!"

"My point exactly," she said.

I groaned, surrendering the battle. Yes, I admit that my skills would be weakened during these moments, but I forced myself not to do it again during the dance.

Suddenly, Zoe burst in. "Get your list and meet me in the hallway," she said, then promptly exited the room a second later.

Erica followed close behind.

I ran over to my compartment, tapped in a security key, and grabbed the list out of the little secret area. Walking out of my room, I quickly locked it and caught up with Zoe and Erica.

"It's time for the list reveal," she said when she saw me, then gave me a suspicious look. "What were you doing with Ice Queen in your room?" 

"Nothing," I said quickly. Zoe could tell that this was clearly a dodge, but she didn't press further.

Erica left to her room, which left Zoe and Me alone. 

"Who was number one on your list?" Zoe asked. 

"Not now," I said. God, if I was this nervous in front of Zoe talking about my list, I couldn't even imagine doing it in front of my friends.

We arrived at the entrance of the box, where Mike, Chip, Jawa, and a few others were waiting.

They are were shuffling their feat, clearly very nervous about the list business. I joined them in staring at their shoes and waiting for the others to arrive. 

"Just how much people are there going to be?" I whispered to Zoe.

"Lots." she just said, then turned away.

I sighed. This was going to be a long, long and embarrassing event.

CHAPTER FOUR:  
THE MOST EMBARRASSING EVENT IN THE HISTORY OR EVENTS

When everybody arrived, we all headed into the box. There were around thirty people, and that made the space inside the small room very cramped, which didn't exactly help with the fact that everyone was about to reveal their lists.

After a long silence and people shuffling around to get a comfy spot, I ended up being stuffed next to Zoe and Mike. Nobody said anything for a few seconds until somebody from my Physical training class piped up.

"So... who wants to go first?" she said. "I'm definitely not doing it."

Some nervous laughter. 

It wasn't until thirty seconds later of an awkward silence that Jawa stood up and unfolded his list. Slapping it onto the tiny desk next to the bed, he opened up the roll of paper for everybody to see.

It wasn't that surprising. Some random kids that I didn't know, and nobody that was my friend was on the list. 

This pattern went on for a while, and eventually somebody would get a name of a person who was in the room on their list. That was usually followed by some intense blushing and the clearing of throats.

After what I thought was an eternity of embarrassment, Zoe volunteered to go next. She unfolded her list, and read it out loud for everyone to hear.

The first few were random kids, as usual, but when she got higher in the list, it wasn't long before she said my name.

"Number two, Benjamin Ripley," she said.

We both blushed and she quickly read the last name, and sat down. Mike grinned at this and shoved me closer to Zoe.

Some people left, but most of them stayed. There were some whispers when a fourth year got Erica on his list as his fifth person, but other than that, Ice Queen didn't know up on anything other than mine.

Finally, after twenty-five people, I decided to get my moment of embarrassment over with and stood up. Everybody quickly calmed down and held their breaths as I laid my sheet down on the desk.

Immediatly, the room went up in chatter. It was very obvious that Erica was the first person on my list, and everybody was having emotions going from surprise to doubt.

"Ben!" Mike said, grin going from ear to ear. "You're so lucky!"

Quickly, before anything else could happen, I ran out of the room and grabbed my list on the way. Zoe followed, rolling her eyes.

"So what Ice Queen's number one on your list!?" she said, annoyed. "I was on it too! Why didn't they focus on me? Why didn't you focus on me?"

We both blushed at this, and I quickly said "I did," and headed back to my dorm before anything else could happen. The day was already humiliating enough.

Slamming the door to my room, I took my list and threw it out the window, making sure that it got stuck in a tree before heading back to my bed. I collapsed onto it, fingering with the tip of my blanket.

"You don't have to pretend that you don't know I'm here," a voice came from the ceiling.

I instinctively jumped up, grabbing a hidden gun from under my bed. Even though I was a disaster when it came to weapons, I had to have at least something to keep me protected.

A figure swung down from the ceiling and knocked the gun out of my trembling hands before I could react. I sighed in relief when my nose caught a whiff of the familiar scent of lilacs and gunpowder.

"Erica!" I said when she took off her mask, revealing her face. "For the last time, why do you keep sneaking up on people!"

"I enjoy it," she said quickly, smirking as she watched me clench my fists.

"Whatever," I said. "What did you come here for?"

"Reasons. I may have found what the CIA is planning."

"And what is that?"

"They want to bomb the MI6 headquarters." 

CHAPTER FIVE:  
UNCOVERING THE PLAN

"What!?" I said, backtracking a few steps. "Why would they even think about doing that?!"

"Reasons," Erica said. "For one, the trust bonds between the two aren't exactly as sturdy as you think. There have been discoveries of moles from both sides, and not everybody in the MI6 is as friendly as mom."

"Yes... but why would they bomb it? Isn't that just starting some kind of civil war between the good guys?"

"I'm assuming the reason for this is because they are wanting to intimidate the British. Show them who's the boss, and make sure that they don't mess with us."

"But... what if they retaliate?"

"Then we're stuck in a pickle. This wasn't even the Academy's decision, it was the higher-ups. Being as numbskull as they are, I'm not surprised they planned this. Also, Zoe, you might as well show yourself. I see you there."

I heard a sigh come from behind my desk and Zoe popped up from under it, having the same exact look on her face that I had: disbelief.

"This is by far the dumbest decision that I've ever heard," she said when she sat down on the edge of the bed next to me. "And what if the MI6 are onto us?"

"Then don't expect our campus to be perfectly intact by tomorrow. If they're smart, then they would probably bomb us to intimidate the CIA to not intimidate the MI6."

"But what if we were onto them for them being onto us?" Zoe said.

"Then, in theory, we would bomb them to intimidate them to not bomb us in order to stop us bombing them and intimidating them."

Erica rubbed her temples. "Please, no more logic. My brain hurts."

"I could go on forever, you know," Zoe said. "Oh yeah, Ben, I expect you're going to the ball with Erica?" the annoyance in her voice was unable to be hidden.

"Unwillingly, yes," she said. 

Suddenly, Mike burst into the room.

"The CIA is going to bomb the MI6!" he said. This was followed by a lot of murmers from the hallway.

"Say it a bit louder," Erica hissed. "I don't think hey heard you in China."

"Sorry," Mike said. "It's just- really?"

"You were spying on us this whole time, I'm guessing?" Zoe said.

"Well, that's kind of the point of this school," he said. "Also, um, there might just be a few more people that want to be in this conversation. Is it okay if I invite them?"

"I guess," Erica said.

Jawa, Chip, and a few others struggled into the tiny room. This was followed by the rest of the people who were in the match list reveal, which was a little over 20 humans packed in my tiny room.

"You might as well be inviting the whole world," Zoe said. "Let's go somewhere else to talk about this."

"You can go somewhere else," Mike said. "I'm not leaving until Ben tells me everything he knows about this."

"Me too," said the rest of the crowd simultaneously.

I groaned. The drama was never going to end, seeing this path.

Suddenly another person burst into the room. Someone that only the usual crew knew, and someone that could save me from this.

"Cheerio, students!" Catherine said from the door. "If you would please disperse to your dorms, I have something private to discuss with Ben and Erica."

All of the students left, but when Mike headed out, Catherine put her hand his shoulder.

"You're staying," she said. "There's something I need to tell you. And yes, I'm aware of the CIA's plan."

CHAPTER SIX:  
THE TRUTH

"Wait...so you're aware of this CIA plan?" Mike said.

"Yes, I'm completely aware. And your kids are wrong. They aren't bombing the MI6, they're bombing a SPYDER headquarters next to the MI6."

A sigh of relief rippled through the room. And also some sighs coming from the hallway.

"Scram," Catherine said, opening the door and waving away students who were secretly spying on our conversation.

"Security here is murder," she said. "Private conversations are basically impossible to hold."

"Welcome to my world," I said. "I swear Erica has my room bugged-"

"We don't talk about that," Erica said. "Anyways, what about this bombing?"

And yet another dodge finessed by Erica. I can't argue though. It was pretty obvious that my room had at least two hidden microphones and a hidden camera. I shuddered at that thought. If she saw me when I came out of the showe- okay, let's not go there.

"We have discovered recently that SPYDER has established a headquarters near our main MI6 central. Due to this, the CIA planned this 'banquet' to cover up for the bombing."

"Wait, so this banquet wasn't meant to be actually made for the original reasons?"

"I'm afraid, no." Catherine said, pulling something out of her pocket. "This is the controller that is linked to all the bombs. For now, it is locked, though when the time comes, you and Erica will infiltrate their facility, make sure the bombs are in place, then press the button."

"Infiltrate?" Mike said. "Why can't I be with them?"

"Well- if you insist, then I will think about it. But for now, I'm following mission orders."

"In which we don't usually follow. I can count at least three times we've gone rogue-"

"That is true, but still... it'd be wise this time to stay in orders."

"Well, in that case, I'm probably not going to make it in either," Zoe pushed the door open and walked inside.

"Me neither," Jawa said, following her in.

"Me three," Chip said and walked in, then closed the door.

Catherine muttered something under her breath about people spying on our conversation then rubbed her temples. "I'll try my best to get you three in with Ben and Erica, but for now, we are strictly going with the flow."

Erica stood and walked out of the door, saying that she needed some fresh air to think about the mission and prepare. By "prepare," I assumed it was practicing hitting bulls-eye's with her feet while having a blindfold on.

Mike headed out and pulled Zoe with him, and I deduced that they were probably going to the ball together. It wasn't surprising, since that would be an efficient pair when undergoing the mission. They didn't have to go through the process of ditching their partner and causing suspicion, since they both already knew about this.

"So... we are a go on this?" I asked Catherine.

"I assume. Let operation Bomb the SPYDER commence!"

CHAPTER SEVEN:  
THE OPERATION IS A GO

"Operation Bomb a SPYDER?" Zoe said in the hallway, snorting. "That sounds like something Murray would do when he sees a daddy longlegs."

"Well, that's at least what Catherine said. Not my idea." I said. 

"If it were me naming the mission, I would at least go for some kind of cool name," Mike said. Before he could continue, I interrupted.

"All of the cool mission names are used up."

"Fair point- but still, at least have something that rolls off the tongue easily. Saying a mission name that long and simple is just giving me mental OCD."

"We've changed the name," Erica said, appearing in thin air behind us. "You can get rid of all those OCD feelings now, since the mission is officially being named Operation Incendiary Arthropod."

"That's literally just taking two synonyms of 'bomb' and 'spider' and putting them in one phrase," I said. "The CIA really needs more creativity."

"And it's still a pretty long mission name," Mike put in.

"A pretty long mission name in which you're probably not even going to be in," Erica said. "It's only Ben and me for now. You two better have exceptionally high hopes to even think about being in this."

"I mean, haven't we proven ourselves multiple times already?" Mike said, making a turn to the Artillery Range. The rest of us followed, including Erica. "We literally have annihlated SPYDER more than three times, with the help of braniac here." he patted my shoulder and picked out a Bergara B-14 HMR from the shelves. I just settled for a simple handgun, since as you all know, I was horrible with weapons.

Erica took four handguns (don't ask me how she was going to shoot all of those at the same time) and Zoe followed what Mike had done, taking the same gun and loading it up.

Mike shot a few rounds, hitting about a few inches from the bulls-eye each time. Zoe had similar results, while Erica shot four handguns with her hands while blindfolded. As usual, she nailed every shot.

"Also, Ben," Mike said after I completely missed the target fifteen multiple times in a row. "We're fairly better at weaponry than you are."

"You can say that again," I muttered and missed another shot. Mike couldn't help but snicker when I missed another five in a shot.

"Shut up," I muttered and headed back to my dorm to get some rest. I needed some refreshing before the big mission, and hitting the hay for a while sounded like exactly what I needed.

Around 3:00 AM the next day, I woke to something knocking on my door. Fumbling with my lamp, I clicked it on and headed to my door.

As I set my hand on the handle, I realized that letting someone into your room at 3:00 AM wasn't exactly the smartest idea. Looking through the peephole, I saw someone dressed in complete black.

I sniffed. My nose caught the slightest scent of lilacs and gunpowder.

"Come in," I mumbled and Erica quickly walked in my room. "Why didn't you sneak in as usual? You finally knocked and came through the main entrance like a regular person."

Erica laughed. "How do you know I never come through the main entrance? With you're eyesight, I could sneak in without even trying."

"No," I denied. I looked back to find Erica in the hallway again.

"See? I just walked through the main entrance and you didn't notice. Point proven." she strode in again.

I groaned. "Just tell me what you came here for."

"There's been a change of plans," she said. "Due to the delay of the bomb shipping, we're going to have to place them in the SPYDER headquarters instead of having other agents doing the work."

"Of course. That's the typical CIA. Laying the dirty work on the junior agents. And why did you choose to tell me about this at 3:00 AM?"

"Because we're going to the airport right now. The royal banquet is three days hence, which means we still have two days to go. The flight to Britian alone will take a while, and then we have to get situated and have Cyrus relay the mission to us there. We also have to get used to the territory."

"Cyrus's already in Britian?" I said. 

"Yep. And so is mom. After our conversation yesterday, they both left on a private plane."

"What about Mike, Zoe, Chip, and Jawa?" I said.

"Well... they got into the mission."

"Yes! And we're already done packing!" Zoe said, striding into my room with Mike. They were both holding thick suitcases which were probably ninety percent weapons and ten percent clothes.

"Chip and Jawa are already at the school borders." she relayed to us.

"And I'm still in my jammies, and I haven't packed anything. Also, I really just need some sleep." I collapsed onto my bed.

"Get up and pack," Erica jabbed my on my side, making my whole body jerk up. "We'll be meeting you in ten minutes at the edge of the school. Also, splash some water on your face. With that amount of energy, I doubt you'll make it there without collapsing."

"Ten minutes?" I said. "I have to brush my teeth, change, pack my clothes, get situated, get some weapons, and walk halfway across campus in ten minutes!?"

"Yep. Good luck." she said. With this, the rest of them left, leaving me by myself with a ton of things to do.

I sighed. It was going to be a looong day.

CHAPTER EIGHT:  
DEPARTATION

I panted as I arrived at the edge of the school, where Erica and the rest were waiting for me. I struggled under the weight of my suitcases, in which Alexander had urged for me to bring some 

"Good," Erica said when she saw me, raising an eyebrow when she looked at her watch. "But you're one minute late."

"That's because I had to change, brush my teeth, pack my things, then walk across half of the campus in only ten minutes!"

"Pff," she said, waving a hand at me in disgust. "That's easy."

"Everything is easy to you," I muttered under my breath.

"Except skiing," Jawa said. "You've got to admit that Erica isn't very good at ski-" His remark was stopped suddenly when he fell to the ground and his face smacked against the hard concrete as his legs went out from under him. "Ow!" he said after picking himself up. "Someone tripped me!"

Despite the fact that Erica was 10 feet away, I still doubted the fact that she didn't do it. She was the master at tripping, even if we were an impossible distance away. (Trust me, I knew this by experience.)

A taxi pulled up next to us, and I squeezed into the backseat next to Mike after shoving my packages into the back. Zoe sat to my left, and Jawa jumped into the carry-on luggage section with Chip next to our suitcases. Erica sat in the shotgun, with a shotgun in her hand and her window open. This wasn't surprising considering the fact that we were spies.

After riding in the car for a long, boring time and sitting a little but too close next to Zoe for my comforts, we finally pulled up into the airplane parking lot.

The second the taxi went from moving to a stop, Jawa and Chip sprang out of the carry-on compartment like a jack-in-a-box.

"Ah!" Chip said. "Finally out of there! Being squished with this guy and luggage in an uncomfortable position was so freaking boring and painful."

Jawa pushed him away, and Chip laughed and strong-armed him into a chokehold. After some begging and whimpering, Jawa sat up, red-faced, while Chip took our bags from the back of the taxi. Jawa muttered something about Chip going to the gym too much.

"Hey, you never can have too much muscle," Chip said.

"I don't have any visible muscle," Erica said from behind Chip. "And I'm still stronger than you."

Chip pursed his lips and set his suitcase down. "You got me there, Ice Queen."

I swear Erica smiled when she pulled out her tiny duffel bag.

Erica pulled some bills out of her pocket, handing them over to the taxi driver as he prepared to pull away. "We were never here," she said and handed over an extra five bucks.

"You were never here," the taxi driver said, then pulled away and kicked up some gravel from the parking lot.

We headed over towards the airport, wheels of our suitcases screeching onto the hard concrete. Erica moved faster than us, which wasn't unusual, but suddenly banked to the right when we reached the airport entrance.

"Wait- we're not flying commercially?" I said when she headed over to the area consisting of private jets.

"Why would we?" Erica said. "We'd never get through airport security with these items in our bags." She pulled out a grenade at a specific angle so that we could only spot it and quickly shoved it back inside.

"That's true... but I would prefer flying normally. Wouldn't it make sense, since it wouldn't cause as much suspicion as a private jet flying above London?"

"Yes, but would you rather go through all of the fuss of having to scroll through the airplane security and squeeze in a tiny plane with strangers or have your own plane?" Erica said. "Also, if anyone of us slipped a weapon and the public saw it... well, then we'll be done for."

Erica continued onto the sidewalk, heading over to the black airplane in the corner. It was a petite figure, sitting by itself among the other gigantic airplanes. But I could see by the boosters and a tiny well-hidden Gatling gun at its side that it was built especially for us spies.

Zoe pranced up the front, passing by Erica who gave her a nasty look after I assumed that she "accidentally" knocked over Erica's suitcase. She had been especially toxic to her after I broke the news to Zoe that I would be going to the ball with Erica. I didn't really know what to do to stop it, since every time I mentioned our relationship, she would launch into a ten-minute rant of why the Berica ship shouldn't be sailing and how the railings of Zen were sturdier then I thought they were. To be honest, being stuck in this "love triangle" is kind of an internal nightmare.

As we arrived at the edge of the plane, Erica flipped open a keypad at the bottom of the hull and typed in a long combination. Unwillingly, I memorized the string of numbers. Might come in handy soon.

The plane's engines rattled to life, and a staircase lowered down to the ground. We lifted our suitcases up and headed onto the plane, and when I stepped into it, I was kind of surprised that it was much more luxurious than I thought it was probably going to be.

Fluffy velvet plush swivel chairs stood in every corner, while a mini-kitchen and a fridge were stuck in the middle of the cabin. Each seat had a wide-screen TV and a snack cabinet, while a portable air conditioner stood in the middle of the whole plane. It took me a second to realize that there was no pilot, then another second after Erica slid in the cockpit to deduce that she was flying.

To be honest, I think having Erica as a pilot was a lot safer than a normal pilot. Especially considering the fact that she was going to have to man a midair Gatling gun whilst flying. And I had a nagging feeling she was going to have to use the gun during the trip.

I settled down in the top-left seat, while the rest of us migrated to the remainder of places to sit. After Chip realized there wasn't enough space for him to sit, he pouted and walked into the cockpit to sit in the copilot's chair. He came out a few seconds later, red-faced, and dutifully sat down in the middle of the cabin. I swear I heard Erica snicker from the cockpit.

Placing my bags down next to me, I sunk into the fluff of my chair and sighed. It was about 4:30 AM by now, and I needed to get some nice sleep to cover up for my missed hours.

Just as I was about to drift off into dreamland, Erica's voice crackled into my headset and jerked be awake. I didn't know if she did that on purpose or not, but I didn't want to know, since she announced abruptly that we were taking off and that we should get some rest before the action in London.

I sat down again in my chair, and slowly drifted to sleep, hoping that this wasn't going to be the last time I would get some peaceful rest in a while.

CHAPTER NINE:  
THE PLANE RIDE

After riding in the car for a long, boring time and sitting a little but too close next to Zoe for my comforts, we finally pulled up into the airplane parking lot.

The second the taxi went from moving to a stop, Jawa and Chip sprang out of the carry-on compartment like a jack-in-a-box.

"Ah!" Chip said. "Finally out of there! Being squished with this guy and luggage in an uncomfortable position was so freaking boring and painful."

Jawa pushed him away, and Chip laughed and strong-armed him into a chokehold. After some begging and whimpering, Jawa sat up, red-faced, while Chip took our bags from the back of the taxi. Jawa muttered something about Chip going to the gym too much.

"Hey, you never can have too much muscle," Chip said.

"I don't have any visible muscle," Erica said from behind Chip. "And I'm still stronger than you."

Chip pursed his lips and set his suitcase down. "You got me there, Ice Queen."

I swear Erica smiled when she pulled out her tiny duffel bag.

Erica pulled some bills out of her pocket, handing them over to the taxi driver as he prepared to pull away. "We were never here," she said and handed over an extra five bucks.

"You were never here," the taxi driver said, then pulled away and kicked up some gravel from the parking lot.

We headed over towards the airport, wheels of our suitcases screeching onto the hard concrete. Erica moved faster than us, which wasn't unusual, but suddenly banked to the right when we reached the airport entrance.

"Wait- we're not flying commercially?" I said when she headed over to the area consisting of private jets.

"Why would we?" Erica said. "We'd never get through airport security with these items in our bags." She pulled out a grenade at a specific angle so that we could only spot it and quickly shoved it back inside.

"That's true... but I would prefer flying normally. Wouldn't it make sense, since it wouldn't cause as much suspicion as a private jet flying above London?"

"Yes, but would you rather go through all of the fuss of having to scroll through the airplane security and squeeze in a tiny plane with strangers or have your own plane?" Erica said. "Also, if anyone of us slipped a weapon and the public saw it... well, then we'll be done for."

Erica continued onto the sidewalk, heading over to the black airplane in the corner. It was a petite figure, sitting by itself among the other gigantic airplanes. But I could see by the boosters and a tiny well-hidden Gatling gun at its side that it was built especially for us spies.

Zoe pranced up the front, passing by Erica who gave her a nasty look after I assumed that she "accidentally" knocked over Erica's suitcase. She had been especially toxic to her after I broke the news to Zoe that I would be going to the ball with Erica. I didn't really know what to do to stop it, since every time I mentioned our relationship, she would launch into a ten-minute rant of why the Berica ship shouldn't be sailing and how the railings of Zen were sturdier then I thought they were. To be honest, being stuck in this "love triangle" is kind of an internal nightmare.

As we arrived at the edge of the plane, Erica flipped open a keypad at the bottom of the hull and typed in a long combination. Unwillingly, I memorized the string of numbers. Might come in handy soon.

The plane's engines rattled to life, and a staircase lowered down to the ground. We lifted our suitcases up and headed onto the plane, and when I stepped into it, I was kind of surprised that it was much more luxurious than I thought it was probably going to be.

Fluffy velvet plush swivel chairs stood in every corner, while a mini-kitchen and a fridge were stuck in the middle of the cabin. Each seat had a wide-screen TV and a snack cabinet, while a portable air conditioner stood in the middle of the whole plane. It took me a second to realize that there was no pilot, then another second after Erica slid in the cockpit to deduce that she was flying.

To be honest, I think having Erica as a pilot was a lot safer than a normal pilot. Especially considering the fact that she was going to have to man a midair Gatling gun whilst flying. And I had a nagging feeling she was going to have to use the gun during the trip.

I settled down in the top-left seat, while the rest of us migrated to the remainder of places to sit. After Chip realized there wasn't enough space for him to sit, he pouted and walked into the cockpit to sit in the copilot's chair. He came out a few seconds later, red-faced, and dutifully sat down in the middle of the cabin. I swear I heard Erica snicker from the cockpit.

Placing my bags down next to me, I sunk into the fluff of my chair and sighed. It was about 4:30 AM by now, and I needed to get some nice sleep to cover up for my missed hours.

Just as I was about to drift off into dreamland, Erica's voice crackled into my headset and jerked be awake. I didn't know if she did that on purpose or not, but I didn't want to know, since she announced abruptly that we were taking off and that we should get some rest before the action in London.

I sat down again in my chair, and slowly drifted to sleep, hoping that this wasn't going to be the last time I would get some peaceful rest in a while.

CHAPTER TEN:  
ZOE'S FINALE

I was awoken by the continuous sound of a rattling Gatling gun.

Oh no, I thought. We're in danger!?

Looking around me, I realized that none of my friends were awake, though I could clearly hear bullet pinging onto the side of our airplane. I couldn't dare look around the airspace through a window, since that would be risking a bullet hitting my noggin

I hit the deck as a window to my left shattered into a million pieces and bullets rattled into the cabinet, causing multiple smoking holes to be formed on the cabin floor. This woke my friends up, and each of them reacted in a different way.

Jawa slipped out a machine gun from under his seat, while Mike took out a giant see-through bulletproof shield and propped it up against a window. Chip took another machine gun out from his duffel bag and set it up behind the shield, Jawa to his left.

After Mike assured us that the shield was firmly placed, I took a quick peek out through the window and spotted three tiny planes zipping beside us. One of them was smoking, which I took as a good sign, but the other two were closing in on us and shooting bullets faster than I could blink.

Chip and Jawa both loaded their guns and started shooting, filling the cabin with a repeated reload noise that my ears were definitely not thankful for.

The smoking plane got some hard hits from the right side, and I could see it start to bank hard to the left. Soon, it exploded in midair, and two tiny pilots extruded from the explosion, activating their parachutes in midair and beginning their slow descent down to the sea.

Suddenly, bullets crashed in through the windows on the other side of the plane, rattling the floor, and I heard Zoe shout in pain. Turning around at the speed of light, I saw her gritting her teeth and clutching her arm in pain.

Fury washed over me. What happened next was more of a blur, but all I could say was it included a grenade launcher and a LOT of red. 

Soon, both planes were cascading into the dark sea, and I stood near a broken window with a grenade launcher in my hand and a scary look on my face. Jawa, Chip, and Mike backed away from me as if I had a killer aura around myself. I probably did, considering the fact that my hands were shaking like a psychopath's.

As the adrenaline wore away, I looked around to find that Zoe was on the ground, and there was a pool of blood around her chest. Chip was trying to stop the flow, but there was just too much blood. Too. Much. Blood.

Mike quickly identified the place of impact, it being near her heart and straight through her chest. Grief washed over my body as I realized that the bullet may have pierced her heart, seeing the way she struggled to make movements.

As the red blood soaked the carpet and Zoe groaned in pain, I rushed over to the cockpit to get a medical emergency kit. After I burst in, it took seconds for Erica to quickly realized what happened and turn all medical-nurse mode, running over to Zoe and using some thick white bandages to stop the blood flow in a way much more flawlessly than had done earlier. Propping Zoe onto a chair, I kneeled next to her and watched her clutch her chest in pain.

The next thirty minutes was a mix of silence and me making sure that her bandage was on. Soon after, Erica reported she was jacking the plane up to max speed on our route to London since she had identified the injury to be "fatal in hours".

Fatal in hours.

The words bounced around in my mind like playpen balls. Would we make it on time, or would Zoe breathe her final breath on this plane? Would I finally witness the death of a fellow spy mate?

Zoe turned her head, arms shaking, as her wide, green eyes bore into mine. Her other hand was still clutching the point where the bullet had entered her body, and just seeing this action made me want to chuck the shooter into a pit of boiling lava.

Zoe struggled to reach out with her arm, and gently used her fingertips to stroke my cheek. The left side of my face tingled as her lips slowly curved into a small smile, one that I knew too well.

"Ben..." she struggled to make out the words. "I just wanted to tell you- you're the best friend I could ever have in my life."

My heart sank as I realized these kinds of words only came from the mouth of a dying human. A dying human that I knew and was a friend of since the second we met.

Memories flashed in my mind: Zoe backing me up in the classroom in an argument, Zoe always being the friend that I could talk to, and Zoe blushing as she admitted her crush on me. I could still see those visions will a clear HD view, making the moment even more depressing. Especially when Zoe let out a shaking cough.

"I- I think I'm leaving this world," she said as her eyes faded from view. Confirming that she was still breathing, I watched as her chest rise up and down. I could swear her breaths were getting slower and slower as the plane carried on in the air.

Suddenly, her chest skidded to a halt, and her eyes glazed over. She rattled a breath as she looked into my eyes, being the Zoe and the one and only person I would ever know as my best friend. The Zoe wasn't breathing anymore. The Zoe wasn't going to live through the plane ride.

"Bye, Ben," she whispered one last time, lips shaking.

Collapsing into the chair, Zoe body went limp as her heart stopped beating.

"Bye, Everyone."

CHAPTER TEN:  
ARRIVAL IN LONDON

"We've arrived," Erica said gravely, taking a wary glance down at the bustling streets of London. Zoe's limp body stood next to me, and my eyes were still puffy from crying. "We'd better get Zoe to the medical center as quickly as we can."

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that she's dead," I said, looking at her body and noticing that her chest wasn't falling and rising anymore. 

"That most certainly does not help the mood!" Mike snapped from the corner of the cabin. Since the time when Zoe had spoken her potentially last words, he'd been hiding out there and glaring at anyone who came within three feet of his personal space.

Jawa and Chip were both just in a trance, still not processing what had just happened. Erica just refused to believe the fact that Zoe might be dead.

"She's not dead," Erica said, pressing a few buttons and changing our plane so it could continue on its light descend onto London. The light whir of the motor comforted my mood as I took another wary glance at Zoe, a glimmer of hope shimmering amongst my mind. Maybe she still was alive.

I wanted to look out through the window, but since they were broken, going too close to the suction area would result in something that we did not want to find out. Nobody wanted another death, especially one that included a body falling onto the streets of London. I've had enough with action today. If there's something else that would make us risk our lives, then I'm out on the mission.

Erica walked into the cabin and threw a few parachute harnesses onto the ground next to us. "Suit up," she grunted, then headed back into the cockpit without another word. On the way, she brushed her fingertip on my earlobe, but I assumed it was an accident when she apologized a millisecond later and continued walking.

I nodded, pulling the backpack and satchel over my chest and making sure they were on tight enough so that I didn't have any visible wiggle room. From the corner of my eye, I could spot Jawa, Chip and Mike doing the same thing.

For Zoe, well... it was either let her body slowly parachute down onto London (which would look especially creepy), or have someone carry her body, which would be even more creepier depending on the person who would willingly take the task.

I watched solemnly as Erica opened the cockpit exit, letting the airflow into the cabin. Since we were pretty low on the elevation, there wasn't much suction, leaving us able to go close to the opening without having the risk of free-falling onto London. That was a relief, since I didn't want to have a running start in order to get out of the plane.

"So..." I said after a moment of awkward silence. "Who's going to carry Zoe?"

"Not me," Chip said a little bit too quickly. "It's not that I don't like her, it's just... I don't think carrying a dead body is going to help my nerves at all."

"Zoe isn't dead!" Erica snapped. "And I'll carry her. Unlike you wimps, I don't care about these 'ew' things. As you all know, my personality is much more different than the other ninety-nine percent of the human population."

With this, she picked Zoe up, ignored the bloodstains that got into her shirt, and walked over to the cockpit calmly with her harness done. As she got into the jumping position, suddenly Zoe's left eye twitched.

Hope flared through my body, especially when her eye opened and she managed to struggle through a weak wink. I could've screamed in relief when Erica finally jumped off, leaving me and the other boys in ecstasy and excitement.

"Did you see that!?" Mike practically screamed. "Zoe winked!"

"At Ben, of course," Jawa said, cracking a smile, which was the first one I'd seen since Zoe got injured. "He's the wonder boy amongst us."

I could feel my face turning red as Chip and Mike laughed. But it was worth it. Me and the boys were back to being in the happy, joking mood, knowing that Zoe was still alive.

Mike jumped off the plane, followed by Jawa and Chip. Soon it was me who was only left.

Suddenly, a pang of thought struck me. If we all left the plane, how would it land?

"Don't worry about the plane, Ben. It's in autopilot mode, and I entered GPS chords to specify where it would land. Now get your butt down here and stop dawdling."

Erica's sharp voice echoed through my head as I jumped off the plane, pulling the parachute a few seconds later. It only took my brain a few seconds to deduce what had happened. 

Earlier, when Erica brushed my earlobe, she was inserting an earpiece. Of course. Another brilliant move finessed by the one and only Ice Queen.

I smiled as I gently fell onto the rooftop of a random building next to Erica and the rest of the gang. Watching as the plane slowly floated away towards a runaway, I smiled internally and externally at the same time.

Zoe was still alive. We'd made it to London without any fatalities.

Wow, I thought. 

✨Miracles do happen.✨


End file.
